Ludhiana, March 23
It has been a week since jewellers across the city have downed their shutters in protest against the increase in excise duty and doubling of customs duty on precious metals. Today, the jewellers protested and decided to remain on strike till the duties are rolled back.

The otherwise busy Fountain Chowk and Sarafan Bazar, the jewellery hub of the city, wore a deserted look as all the stores were closed.

“Representatives of the Jewellery and Gems Association of India held a meeting with the Finance Minister yesterday, but nothing was decided so, we decided to continue the strike,” said Anand Sikri, president of the Ludhiana Jewellers Association.

“This is an unprecedented occasion where almost all jewellers across the country have closed their shops against the Budget proposal. The city is losing revenue amounting to Rs 25 lakh everyday due to the strike,” he said, adding that the Centre was losing around Rs 9 crore every day.

The Finance Minister has proposed to increase the basic customs duty on standard gold bars, gold coins of purity exceeding 99.5 per cent and platinum from 2 per cent to 4 per cent; and on non-standard gold from 5 per cent to 10 per cent. Basic duty on gold ore, concentrate and ore bars for refining is being enhanced from 1 per cent to 2 per cent. Excise duty on refined gold is being increased in the same proportion from 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent. 

Ludhiana, March 23
With the development of new techniques, copying in board examinations has also gone hi-tech. Students are adopting new techniques for copying in the exams. This was revealed by flying squads of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) who recovered several “micro guides” and blue tooth devices. Earlier, students used to depend on handwritten slips, but now they are using photostat to generate the micro image of “guides”. This way, they are able to carry the entire “guide” with them in the examination centre.

Mobile phones and blue tooth devices are also common among students. Harjit Singh Balari, in charge of a flying squad, said: “Blue tooth and mobiles are commonly used these days for copying. It is hard to trace the device as it is very small. Sometimes, the staff and invigilators do not screen the students properly. This leads to the frequent use of such methods for copying.”

Ludhiana March 23
The Punjab School Education Board had constituted more than 10 teams to curb the copying in schools in the district. But it was seen that only two flying teams were actively running the drive. Board officials said, the board was going to give new directions to fix the responsibility of flying squad teams. A board official admitted that all the flying teams were not working properly in a recent drive to check copying.

Flying Squad teams led by Surinder Singh Gerewal and Harjit Singh Balari were the two teams, which caught more than 12 cases of copying in class X examination. Ironically, other teams in the district failed to catch a single case.

Surinder Singh Gerewal, in-charge of the flying squads, said "The teachers who help students in copying and are responsible for spoiling their future. If the in charge of a flying squad does his duty with honesty one can curb copying in examinations."

Ludhiana, March 23
Barely a few hours before the arrival of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, the police went into a tizzy after an anonymous person called the police control room to say that he had planted a bomb at Shaheed Sukhdev Thapar Inter-State Bus Terminus.

The incident took place at around 7 am when an attendant at the control room received the call. The police sounded an alert and carried out a search operation at the bus stand. Passengers were evacuated from the bus stand and the entry was restricted. Since it was a state holiday, there weren’t many passengers at the bus stand. It was nearly after an hour that the police termed the bomb threat as a hoax.

Ludhiana, March 23
It is learnt that 18-year-old Pardeep Kumar, alias Happy, who was found murdered, used to stalk a girl in the locality. The girl had complained to her parents that he had grabbed her arm.

Her parents had brought it to the notice of Happy’s parents, but it did not deter him. They had also reported the matter to the police two days before the murder.

The police had summoned Happy’s parents, but the victim followed the girl the next day. Police sources claimed that in the evening of March 21, the girl’s father, Jagdish Kumar, maternal uncle Munish Kumar, cousin Saurabh and an unidentified person picked up Happy and took him to Rajpura where he was murdered. His body was dumped in Morinda near the Sirhind branch canal.

ADCP Kulwinder Singh said: “While one person has been arrested, raids are on to nab the rest. I have come to know that the victim used to follow the girl and tease her. Her parents had complained to the police.”

Ludhiana, March 23
An alert bus driver and a conductor nabbed a pickpocket who was reportedly fleeing after stealing nearly Rs 18,000 from a local resident here today.

The incident took place near Chand Cinema this afternoon when the victim raised the alarm on seeing the pickpocket jump from the moving bus.

He claimed that the pickpocket was in the possession of a sharp-edged weapon and stole his wallet by cutting his pocket. The driver immediately stopped the bus and chased the pickpocket and succeeded in nabbing him.

They handed over the suspect to the Salem Tabri police for further action.

Ludhiana, March 23
The Finance Minister has provided relief to readymade garment manufacturers in the Budget, but they are unlikely to reduce prices as they say the relief is “negligible”.

Insignificant relief in excise duty and increase in service tax is not enough to slash the prices, the manufacturers say.

Surinder Kapoor, a garment manufacturer and exporter, says: “The relief is too small to reduce the prices. The profit margin has already gone down and there is no scope of slashing the prices. There is not going to be any reduction in the prices of branded garments as the Central government has raised the excise duty on garments from 10 to 12 per cent. Moreover, there is going to be an impact of the service tax hike in our overall input cost.”

Another manufacturer, Lalit Jain, says: “The overall relief is just 0.9 per cent, which is too small to bring down the prices. The increase in the service tax is also going to impact us so the question of reducing the prices does not arise.”

It has been proposed to enhance the excise duty on branded apparels from 10 to 12 per cent even as it has also been proposed to raise abatement from 55 to 70 per cent of the MRP, meaning duty will be levied on 30 per cent of the garment sale’s price.

Describing the raise in abatement on garments as eyewash, the garment industry asked the government to either withdraw the excise duty or wait for the introduction of goods and service tax before levying any duty on garments.

“The garment industry is going through a rough phase since the excise duty was levied on the garments in the Budget last year.

We made several representations to the government last year to roll away the duty, but to no avail. The worst sufferers are small garment manufacturers. We have been burdened with taxes,” he added.

Khanna/Khamano, March 23
On the call of the Jewellers Association of India, the Jewellers of Khanna held a protest on GT road and burnt an effigy of the Central Government for increasing the tax on gold.

The jewellers gathered near the bus stand under the command of president of the Khanna unit Sedha. Raising slogans against the decision of the Centre, the protesters demanded the rollback of increased tax. They declared that their protest would continue till their demands were fulfilled.

Meanwhile, at Khamano, the jewellers gathered near the main chowk under the leadership of block president Subash Kumar and blocked traffic on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh road for some time. They raised slogans against the Central government for increasing tax. They sought that their demand should be conceded immediately to save their profession.

Ludhiana, March 23
The much-awaited burns unit of Lord Mahavira Civil Hospital, which was supposed to be operational last November, is still not functional. The construction of the mega project had started about three years ago. The hospital authorities attribute the delay to staff shortage and also to the final touches which are still to be given. As a result, the burns patients are being treated in the old ward adjoining the ward of unidentified patients.

Dr Karamvir Goel, Senior Medical Officer (SMO), said: “The ground floor of the building got ready about a month ago. Since the trauma and emergency ward of the hospital required immediate renovation, we had to shift these wards to the ground floor of the newly constructed building. The first floor of the burns unit is yet to get the final touches. I hope it would be completed soon.”

He added: “We are also facing a shortage of staff. The higher authorities have assured us that very soon staff, including doctors, paramedical staff and nurses, will be appointed. Earlier, due to the model code of conduct, the staff could not be appointed.”

The burns unit will have 30 beds to cater to burns patients.

Ludhiana, March 23
NIMA, Ludhiana, and Aasha TB Projects (ATP), organised a public awareness lecture and nukkad natak for hosiery workers here today at Jolley Doaba Hosiery.

Dr Surinder Gupta,secretary, NIMA, Ludhiana, said that an awareness lecture was organised along with a nukkad natak at Jolley Doaba Hosiery in Shivpuri to sensitise hosiery workers regarding tuberculosis.

A nukkad natak on tuberculosis was performed by the PSI team. More than 100 hosiery workers and neighbouring people attentively listened. Dr Surendra Gupta clarified their queries.

Ludhiana, March 23
City based traffic expert Kamaljit Soi on Thursday met Commissioner of Police Ishwar Chander and Swapan Sharma ACP (Traffic) to discuss measures to improve mobility for ensuring free-flow of traffic on city roads.

The discussion was focused on conducting a road-safety audit and road-assessment programme of all the roads falling in the city commissionerate.

The main traffic bottlenecks have been identified as Bharat Nagar Chowk Samrala Chowk, Sherpur Chowk and Jagraon Bridge.

"But the heartening fact is that the situation has improved after the recent drive undertaken by the city police to tow away the haphazardly parked vehicles. The blocking of unnecessary intersections has also led to dip in the accident cases," said Soi.

In the next two month all roads will be audited for road safety.

This audit will be carried out by the Punjab State Road safety Council along with a team from IIT, Delhi, said Soi.

"I am thankful to the police commissioner for extending cooperation to finalise road safety and traffic management policy in the city," said Soi. 

Ludhiana, March 23
Residents, in general, have hailed the rollback of hike in railway fares of general class of passenger and mail/express trains, sleeper class, AC chair car and AC 3-tier announced by new Railway Minister Mukul Roy in the Lok Sabha on Thursday saying that the increase in railway fares would weigh heavily on the common man who was already reeling under food inflation and spiraling prices.

There were, however, some others who expressed their displeasure to the abject surrender of the Congress-led UPA government to the pressure tactics of TMC supremo Mamta Banerjee. 

The government has done well to withdraw the proposed hike in railway fares which, otherwise, would have added to the misery of the people who were already under huge financial strain due to rising prices and overall high inflation. The Railway Minister has been considerate to the people with limited financial resources — Balraj Singh, Ex-serviceman

Ludhiana, March 23
Actor Manoj Joshi, who was in the city said that the play, Chanakya, which was to be staged in the city was one of the most viewed plays. The actor and director of the play said that the play would be staged for the 199th time across the states, but first time in Punjab.

The play focuses on the life of Chanakya, when Alexander came to Takshahila, till Chandragupta become the king.

He said that the country was rife with corruption today needed Chanakyas in every state to curb corruption and instill patriotism and unity in the countrymen.

The actor has been associated with theatre since childhood and even during college life.

He said that theatre not only entertained, but was a picture of society and nation and it should be that way. Theatre was his first love and that was the reason why he continued to do theatre despite working in movies.

Having done various roles in about 70 movies both Hindi and Marathi movies, including Hungama, Bhoolbhulaiya, Guru, he said that he didn't have any predilection for any particular genre of acting as he was a versatile actor. "An actor should be intelligent and should understand different psyches to be able to enact different roles effectively," he said. His role in Guru was the most challenging so far, he said. His upcoming movies include Dabang 2, Choron Ki Baraat and two Marathi movies. 

Ludhiana, March 23
Candidates heve filed in their nominations for different honorary positions at the Sutlej Club. Messages, calls and meeting up with members are going on full throttle with only a day left before the elections on March 25. For about eight positions and three executive members positions, 23 members have filed their nominations at the club.

Gulshan Kumar and Gurinderjit Singh Ladi have filed their nominations for the position of vice-president, Dr Rohit Dutta and Sanjiv Dhanda have done the same for the position of general secretary. For the post of joint secretary Gaurav Chauhan, Manmohan Kaura and Rajesh Kakkar have filed their nominations. For the finance secretary post, Ashok Malhotra, Sanjay Aggarwal and TS Thapar have filed their nominations. Gurinder Singh Kairon and Rajesh Bhambi have done the same for the post of mess secretary. Ruchi Bawa and Latti Bawa have filed nominations for the post of cultural secretary. For the post of sports secretary, nominations have been filed by Balraj Sahni and Vineet Randev(Bonny). For the bar secretary, Navtej Singh Natt and Rajesh Kapoor have filed in their papers. For executive committee, Hardeep Singh Rajpal, Monika Aggarwal, Monika Mittal, Parichay Sood and Rakesh Satija have filed their nominations.

According to a club official, Sanjiv Dhanda, Sanjay Aggarwal, Vineet Randev and Monika Mittal have filed the nominations for the same post they were holding in the previous term, whereas Gulshan Kumar, Dr Rohit Dutta, Ashok Malhotra, Gurinder Singh Kairon, Balraj Sahni, Ruchi Bawa, Latti Bawa, Harddep Singh Rajpal, Monika Aggarwal, Rakesh Satija will be contesting for the first time.

Sanjiv Dhanda, for whom it would be the last term as he has already served as cultural secretary and as he general secretary previously, said that he wanted to contest the elections because he wanted to serve the club. "If there are positions for taking the lead, owning responsibility and serving, why should one?," he said.

Gurinderjit Singh Ladi, who is contesting for the post of vice-president said that it was his fourth and last term said and he wanted to contest as he wished to work for the betterment of the club. He said that members pushed him to come forward and contest.

According to sources, some of the senior members are encouraging "two groups" to reach a compromise and withdraw their names. The date of withdrawal of nominations is March 24. 

Ludhiana, March 23
Ek Prayaas, an institute for children with special needs, run by the Social Action Group organised a free eye check-up camp to check eyes of the children. The children were screened for eye disorders by a team of highly experienced ophthalmologists from the Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMC&H).

Ophthalmologist Dr. Mahesh Jindal, along with his team visited the institute to examine these children. After check up basic medical help was given to few children. Jindal after examining the children said “We have screened all the children. Their visual function and ocular function was assessed. 

Ludhiana, March 23
As many as four persons were injured, including one seriously, after a newly constructed roof collapsed in the Janakpuri area here today.

The victims were identified as Shikha, Dev Raj, Kalika Prasad and Dinesh Kumar.

The four were working on the newly constructed roof when it suddenly collapsed.

They were immediately rescued by the fellow labourers and were rushed to a hospital. The condition of Kalika Prasad was stated to be serious. 

Ludhiana, March 23
After 39 years, when BK Kaushal, a builder from Chandigarh, met his classmates at Punjab Agricultural University at the age of 66, it was a trip down memory lane for him. “I was poor and could not buy a dissection set. Our professor turned me out of the class several times. Now, I have millions of rupees, but the memories of those days stay with me,” he says.

“Our batch of 1964 did not have girls. Girls enrolled in 1966 in BSc (Agriculture), but they were not beautiful. But the 1967 batch had beautiful girls. That’s why I did not score much in exams,” he laughed.

More than 100 students of the 1964 batch met at a reunion today. The idea of a reunion came to former Vice-Chancellor MS Kang in 2008 when the first reunion of his batch was organised.

Dr MS Kang said: “When I was the Vice-Chancellor, a number of friends used to come to meet me and we shared our college life and experiences. The idea of a reunion struck me and we started it in 2008. We meet every year after the Kisan Mela in March.”

Sharing his personal experiences, he said: “There was a call of strike and I decided not to be a part of it. I attended the classes. One of my professors appreciated the gesture.”

Dr Hari Singh, a councillor, said: “I remember we all came from villages and used to wear kurta-pyjamas. Most of my batchmates retired from good positions. We meet here every year to share the memories and discuss social concerns.”

Dr Baborr Singh, a retired professor, shared his memories. “Once we went to the university’s poultry farm at midnight to steal a cock. But the hens started cackling and the watchman woke up. We had to flee,” he remarked.

Asked about a paper leak incident, the old students did not disclose about it, but laughed rather cheekily.

Ludhiana
Nav samvat: Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, Udham Singh Nagar, celebrated the advent of Nav samvat, the beginning of the New Year and Navratras according to the Hindu calendar with sacred fervour of devotion and enthusiasm. At 7 am, the procession of students accompanied by teachers and the principal commenced after paying obeisance at the feet of Goddess Durga, the symbol of shakti. Senior boys were carrying the young 'Goddess Durga' in a beautifully adorned 'Paalki' to the beats of the school band. The whole atmosphere resounded with slogans of bhakti. Besides People were made aware about female foeticide

Jagraon, March 23
The Ludhiana (rural) police have claimed to arrested two proclaimed offenders wanted in different criminal cases registered against them in various criminal activities. The accused have been identified as Sarwan Singh of Ferozepur and Supinder Singh of Beetal village near Moga.

As per the information given by Sadar police station SHO Rachpal Singh, a police team arrested both of them following a tip off from Bhaini village near Sidhwan Bet where they had come to meet some of their friend. Following this a police team from Sadar police station raided Bhaini village and arrested both of them.

According to SHO Rachpal Singh, Sarwan Singh was wanted to the police in a case of abducing a minor girl of Jagraon in 2006. After the kidnapping of the minor girl, the police had booked Sarwan Singh on the statement of girl’s father Harnam Singh.

The police had also booked Supinder Singh to assist Sarwan in abducting the girl. After registering a case against both of them, the police had arrested them in December 2006. But both were released on bail after few months and a trial is underway at a Jagraon court in this regard. 

Ludhiana, March 23
To groom young players for the national and international-level competition, the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has chalked out a programme to select players of substance.

PCA coaches will be train the selected boys (13 to 15 years) at cricket academies located in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Patiala, Mohali and Chandigarh. The PCA will organise inter-academy tournaments to give the boys match exposure and experience.Trials to select the talented upcoming cricketers will be conducted by the Ludhiana District Cricket Association (LDCA) at Arya College on March 26 and 27 at 9.30 am.

A panel of three selectors, including two from the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) and one from the local association will watch the aspirants before finalizing 20 boys and inducting them into the Ludhiana academy.